Novartis manufactures drugs such as clozapine (Clozaril), diclofenac (Voltaren), carbamazepine (Tegretol), valsartan (Diovan), imatinib mesylate (Gleevec / Glivec), ciclosporin (Neoral / Sandimmun), letrozole (Femara), methylphenidate (Ritalin), terbinafine (Lamisil), and others. Novartis owns Sandoz, a large manufacturer of generic drugs. The company formerly owned the Gerber Products Company, a major infant and baby products producer, but sold it to Nestlé on 1 September 2007.
Novartis is a full member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).
Collaborative research
In addition to internal research and development activities Novartis is also involved in publicly funded collaborative research projects, with other industrial and academic partners. One example in the area of non-clinical safety assessment is the InnoMed PredTox. The company is expanding its activities in joint research projects within the framework of the Innovative Medicines Initiative of EFPIA and the European Commission.
History
Novartis headquarters in Basel
Novartis was created in 1996 from the merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz Laboratories, both Swiss companies with long histories. Ciba-Geigy was formed in 1970 by the merger of J. R. Geigy Ltd (founded in Basel in 1758) and Ciba (founded in Basel in 1859). Combining the histories of the merger partners, the company's effective history spans 250 years.
Ciba-Geigy
Johann Rudolf Geigy-Gemuseus (1733–1793) began trading in 1758 in "materials, chemicals, dyes and drugs of all kinds"[12] in Basel, Switzerland. Johann Rudolf Geigy-Merian (1830–1917) and Johann Muller-Pack acquired a site in Basel in 1857, where they built a dyewood mill and a dye extraction plant. Two years later, they began the production of synthetic fuchsine. In 1901, they formed the public limited company Geigy and the name of the company was changed to J. R. Geigy Ltd in 1914.
In 1859 Alexander Clavel (1805 – 1873) took up the production of fuchsine in his factory for silk-dyeing works in Basel. In 1864, a new site for the production of synthetic dyes was constructed, and in 1873, Clavel sold his dye factory to the new company Bindschedler & Busch. In 1884 Bindschedler & Busch is transformed into a joint-stock company with the name "Gesellschaft für Chemische Industrie Basel" (Company for Chemical Industry Basel). The abbreviation Ciba was adopted as the company's name in 1945.
In 1925 J. R. Geigy Ltd. began producing textile auxiliaries,[clarification needed] an activity which Ciba took up in 1928.
In 1939, Geigy chemist Paul Hermann Müller discovered that DDT was effective against malaria-bearing insects. He received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this work in 1948.
Ciba and Geigy merged in 1971 to form Ciba‑Geigy Ltd., and this company merged with Sandoz in 1996 to form Novartis.
Sandoz
The Chemiefirma Kern & Sandoz ("Kern & Sandoz Chemistry Firm") was founded in 1886 by Dr. Alfred Kern (1850–1893) and Edouard Sandoz (1853–1928). The first dyes manufactured there were alizarine blue and auramine. After Kern's death, the partnership became the corporation Chemische Fabrik vormals Sandoz in 1895. The company began producing the fever-reducing drug antipyrin in the same year. Further pharmaceutical research began in 1917 under Professor Arthur Stoll (1887–1971). In 1899, the company began producing the sugar substitute saccharin.
Between the World Wars, Gynergen (1921) and Calcium-Sandoz (1929) were brought to market. Sandoz also produced chemicals for textiles, paper, and leather, beginning in 1929. In 1939, they began producing agricultural chemicals.
In 2005, Sandoz expanded significantly though the acquisition of Hexal, one of Germany's leading generic drug companies, and Eon Labs, a fast-growing US generic pharmaceutical company.
The psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) were discovered at the Sandoz laboratories in 1943 by Albert Hofmann. Sandoz began clinical trials, and marketed the substance, from 1947 through the mid 1960s, under the name Delysid as a psychiatric drug, thought useful for treating a wide variety of mental ailments, from alcoholism to sexual deviancy. Sandoz suggested in its literature that psychiatrists take LSD themselves,[13] to gain a better subjective understanding of the schizophrenic experience, and many did exactly that. For several years, the psychedelic drugs were also called "psychotomimetic" because they were thought to mimic psychosis. Later research caused this term to be abandoned, as neuroscientists gained a better understanding of psychoses, including schizophrenia. Research on LSD peaked in the 1950s and early 1960s. Sandoz withdrew the drug from the market in the mid 1960s.
Sandoz opened its first foreign offices in 1964.
In 1967, Sandoz merged with Wander AG (known for Ovomaltine and Isostar). Sandoz acquired the companies Delmark, Wasabröd (a Swedish manufacturer of crisp bread), and Gerber Products Company (a baby food company).
On 1 November 1986, a fire broke out in a production plant storage room, which led to a large amount of pesticide being released into the upper Rhine river. This exposure killed many fish and other aquatic life.
In 1995, Sandoz spun off its speciality chemicals business to form Clariant. Subsequently, in 1997, Clariant merged with the speciality chemicals business that was spun off from Hoechst AG in Germany.
"Sandoz" continues as a Novartis generic drug brand (see below for details).
After the merger
Suffern, New York: the sole Novartis pharmaceutical production facility in the United States.
After the merger, Novartis reorganized its activities, and spun out its chemicals activities as Ciba Specialty Chemicals (now a part of BASF).
In 1998 the company made headlines with its biotechnology licensing agreement with the UC Berkeley Department of Plant and Microbial Biology. Critics of the agreement expressed concern over prospects that the agreement would diminish academic objectivity, or lead to the commercialization of genetically modified plants. The agreement expired in 2003.
Novartis combined its agricultural division with that of AstraZeneca to create Syngenta in November 2000.
In 2003, Novartis created a new company named Sandoz, a subsidiary that bundles its generic drug production, reusing the predecessor brand.
On 20 April 2006, Novartis acquired the California-based Chiron Corporation. Chiron was formerly divided into three units: Chiron Vaccines and Chiron Blood Testing, which now combine to form Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, and Chiron BioPharmaceuticals, to be integrated into Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
The ongoing Basel Campus Project has the aim to transform the St. Johann site - Novartis headquarters in Basel - "from an industrial complex to a place of innovation, knowledge and encounter".
In 2005, Novartis introduced Certican (Everolimus), an immunosuppressant, and in October 2006 began marketing Telbivudine, a new antiviral drug for hepatitis B.
On 12 October 2009, Novartis has entered into an agreement for exclusive US and Canadian rights to Fanapt(iloperidone), a new oral medication that is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the acute treatment of adults with schizophrenia.
On 6 November 2009, Novartis reached an agreement to acquire an 85% stake in the Chinese vaccines company Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. as part of a strategic initiative to build a vaccines industry leader in this country and expand the Group's limited presence in this fast-growing market segment. This proposed acquisition will require government and regulatory approvals in China.
On 4 January 2010, Novartis offered to pay US $39.3 billion to fully acquire Alcon, the world’s largest eye-care company, including a majority stake held by Nestlé. Novartis had bought 25% of Alcon in 2008.
